Parkour
Lé Parkour (often shortened''' PK') '''or l'art du déplacement' is a physical activity (recently gaining a lot of popularity over the past few years) with the aim of using nothing more than the ability of the human body to move from one point to another as efficienty as possible. It is developed with the objective of developing a skill to overcome obstacles, possibly evading assailants. Male participants in Parkour are referred to as traceurs and for females, traceuses. Parkour can be thought of as the flight response where as a martial art could be considered a fight response. Parkour was founded by David Belle and the Yamakasi in France, parkour focuses on practicing efficient movements to develop one's body and mind to be able to overcome obstacles in an emergency. History Early Humans People once moved without sidewalks or stairs but traversed their landscape through running, jumping, swimming, climbing, vaulting, etc. Georges Hébert méthode naturelle Raymond Belle Firefighter Lisses Yamakasi The Free Running and Parkour Split David Belle's and Sebastian Foucan's split in ideals leads to a split in internet Parkour culture. Parkour and Freerunning share similar core elements, so the debate remains mostly a personal preference. David Belle went on with Parkour and Sebastian Foucan introduced a slightly new variant of Parkour, called Freerunning, to the English speaking world. Since both Parkour and Freerunning are still very similar, it's common to see Parkour labeled as Freerunning and vice versa, due to the fact the English speaking world was introduced to the arts under the name Freerunning. Today, Parkour focuses on quick and efficient movements and personal discipline. While Freerunning, is a way of personal artistic expression using the primal movements of Parkour with Acrobatics. Both originated from the same source and use nearly all of the same movements. Many purist Traceurs most target the use of flips and acrobatics used in Freerunning, because there are many more useful and efficient ways of moving across the same obstacles and there is a higher risk of injury. Never the less, many Traceurs still train gymnastics and flips, though they agree its not technically a pure Parkour technique. Movements No exhaustive list of Parkour movements exists, but some are listed below: *Balance *Cat Leap *Crane *Dismount *Dyno *Gap Leap *Jumping *Landing *Muscle Up *Precision *Quadrupedal Movement *Roll *Running *Swing (Lache) *Underbar *Vaults *Wall Run Philosophy Parkour philosophy is a widely disputed subject yet can be reduced to this: parkour is the disclipline of fluid human movement. Often parkour takes on the definition as a system of the most efficient movement from point A to point B. However, it is important to see parkour as more than just movement, a traceur must understand more about the discipline before attempting its movements. Parkour requires much physical training known as Conditioning in order to strengthen the body to the intense strains that this martial art puts the body through. Also an important part of this sport is Progression, in which the tracuer slowly builds up confidence and skills before taking on large challenges in order to prevent Injury. Therefore, safety is a very important part of this sport, as being efficient is impossible if the tracuer falls and hurts himself. On Tricking One aspect about this sport that is often contested is the use of flips and other such tricks while practicing the sport. Although most tricks have no practical application in terms of efficient movement there are a couple benefits to learning them. One aspect is that these tricks are fun, which is a very important part of parkour, if one cannot enjoy oneself then parkour most likely isn't the sport for this person. Also, learning these tricks will increase one's perception about how one's body moves through space and one's understanding of flow. So, although flips and other such tricks are not parkour movements they certainly won't hinder anyone's progress but will only increase one's amount of fun and understanding of how the body moves. Community Another part of parkour that is important is community, with many traceurs coming together on the internet and meeting up in real places to train together. However, it is important to respect the area's that one is training, knowing the consequences for being in a certain spot and acting kindly to passersby and property owners is an important thing to consider when training to preserve the good image of the parkour community. Mottos "être et durer" (to be and to last) "être fort pour être utile" (be strong to be useful) On Competition Parkour practitioners do not agree with competition. Parkour by nature is non-competitive. Instead of forming teams and competing, Traceurs come together in teams, sometimes commonly called Tribes or Clans, to assist one another in their training. Communities created for Parkour avoid rivalries, because the training makes one compete against him or herself to become stronger and more efficient. Training in groups is not about who is the best of fastest, but helping others reach their goals in their training. Organizations/ Notable Persons David Belle Sebastian Foucan Yamakasi Urban Freeflow Parkour Generations WFPF Category:Parkour